What's in a Title?
by Tasermon's Partner
Summary: Stoick /the Vast/; Gobber /the Belch/; Oswald /the Agreeable/; Dagur /the Deranged/; /Fearless/ Finn; they're more than just nicknames; they're official titles, chosen by a council of their peers. What happens when Hiccup's turn comes up?


AN: I take requests! Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! Also, please point out any errors or grammatical mistakes I may have made!

I really hope you all enjoy this story!

Summary: Stoick _the Vast_; Gobber _the Belch_; Oswald _the Agreeable_; Dagur _the Deranged_; _Fearless_ Finn; they're more than just nicknames; they're official titles, chosen by a council of their peers. What happens when Hiccup's turn comes up?

* * *

"Hey Hiccup, what's up?" asked Astrid as she made her way to his side through the crowd. Even through the mass of bulky villagers, it was easy to spot by the mop of uncovered, unruly, brown hair that was about her height; the only one in the entire village.

Not to mention that the Night Fury by his side was a dead give-away.

"I don't know, I just found out. But whatever it is, it can't be good," he said as the other teens were also converging on their position.

"Aw, come on, you don't know that for sure."

"My dad, the chief, calls a surprise meeting of the entire tribe for something _good_? Yeah, 'cause I'm totally sure he demanded that everyone drop everything they were doing just so he could tell us that he's finally decided to move the tribe to the warm tropics, or maybe that the Berserkers have declared Toothless as their new chief!" he replied mockingly and rolled his eyes in sarcasm as Astrid replied by rolling her own eyes rolled in exasperation.

"Whoa," gasped Tuffnut, "we're moving to the tropics? So, that's like…where is that? North of here?"

"Wait," contemplated Ruffnut in deep thought…which was never a good thing, "if Toothless is the new Berserker chief, does that means he's staying behind? Or are the Berserkers coming North with us too?"

"Either way, you've got to ask Toothless to get me a Berserker catapult! Or, no, wait, one of those giant Berserker cross-bow thingies! Or, no, both! And, like, _mash_ them together! Then I can have a cross-a-pult! Or would that be a cata-bow? Cat-toss-bow?"

"Guys, seriously?" sighed Hiccup, who was now the one rolling _his_ eyes in exasperation.

"Hey," Tuffnut replied, "what's the point of having connections if you don't use them, am I right?"

"Shhh, quiet!" snapped Astrid harshly as Stoick took to the podium in the middle of the Great Hall to speak.

"Vikings of Berk," boomed the chief, "as you all know, every generation, a select few of the greatest and most extraordinary of Viking warriors from each tribe are given the great honor of being granted official titles through the ceremony of Special Quotations and Unquestionable Authorized Titles, also known as, err, SQUAT."

The crowd burst into murmurs. Although nicknames and unofficial titles were common amongst Vikings, only the best and most prestigious got their titles put in the official registry. Once listed, a Viking would be referred to by his or her title in all official documents and archives. In essence, the title also became their official name and was to be used as such for all formal and important occasions and introductions. It was considered to be one of the highest honors a Viking could receive!

"Though our most recent generation of Viking warriors is still quite young, they have already proven themselves in ways that no other Viking that came before them could even dream of doing! And so, it is the decision of the village elders, and myself, that we grant the naming of the first official title amongst our newest generation of warriors!"

The crowd then erupted into cheers! Astrid smiled slyly at Hiccup, but her expression also clearly indicated that she was proud of him. It was obvious whom she _knew_ would be granted the first official title of their generation.

"See, Hiccup? And you were worried that it was going to be something bad!"

But Hiccup didn't even seem to hear her, and Astrid's expression went from smiling to confused as she saw the color drain from his face as he looked up at his father in…fear?!

She could just barely make him out when he mumbled, "Oh no…not now…h-he can't mean…me?!"

"Wait, what? Hiccup, of course he means-"

"Of course they don't mean _you_!" Snotlout rudely interrupted and shouldered his way between the two. "I mean, no offense, but it's obvious that they are talking about the Lout-ster!" He pumped up his biceps and kissed them for emphasis, causing Astrid to cover her mouth as she tried and stop the vile from rising up.

"_OW_!"

Astrid had smacked him _hard_.

"As I was saying," boomed Stoick, who once again commended the crowd's attention, "it is my pleasure, not only as the chief of Berk, but as a proud father, to announce that the next official title will go to my son, Hiccup!"

Once again, the crowd cheered, and various Vikings patted Hiccup on the back and wished him well, including his friends. Well, except for Snotlout, who was muttering about how _he_ should've been the one chosen. Through it all, none of them seemed to notice the shocked and confused look on Hiccup's face…none of them, that is, except for Astrid.

After allowing his son to wallow in the congratulations for a few minutes, Stoick's voice bellowed over the crowd once more.

"In keeping with the tradition of the SQUAT ceremony, the chosen warrior's new title will be decided by a council of his peers, who will be kept in seclusion in the Great Hall until the new title is decided and announced, starting _now_!"

The crowd departed to go back about their business, and the teens eagerly went forward into the Great Hall. Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut were more excited about the prospect of the food and drink they would be served, than about actually choosing a title. Fishlegs was already rambling off a list of names that he thought would be fitting for his friend.

Only Astrid stayed behind, as she saw Hiccup make a bee-line straight for his dad.

"D-Dad, are you sure about this? I mean, it's all so, uh, _sudden_, and-"

"Nonsense! It's been a long time coming! Why, you've single-handedly done more for this village than almost any other Viking since our founding!"

But Hiccup just squirmed under his dad's praise, which was highly unusual, given how rarely Stoick gave it out.

"But I thought that the SQUAT…err…the "naming ceremony" was only reserved for Viking warriors? I'm not a warrior; I couldn't even kill a dragon!" he shouted and gestured at the "oh-so-dangerous" Night Fury, who just stood there warbling and gave them a gummy-smile.

"That's funny, 'cause I recall quite clearly you killin' one as large as a mountain."

"That doesn't count! It's not like I _wanted_ to kill it! I mean, I did, but…agh! You know what I mean! And besides that, I didn't even do most of the work; it was Toothless, and…and…the others! Why not give the award to Toothless or Astrid? She's got more "Viking warrior" in her little pinky than I do in all of my…well…this," he gestured to all of himself.

"Now son, you know that as brave as Toothless is, he's still a dragon, and _not_ a Viking. And Astrid's own SQUA-err, "naming ceremony" will come soon enough. But today is _your_ day son, and while it's all well-and-good to be humble, you should also be _proud_ that you were the first chosen amongst your generation to receive such an honor. You deserve it! I'm proud of you son." Stoick grasped his son's lanky shoulders and beamed at him.

Hiccup just rubbed his arm and teetered awkwardly.

"That's…that's great dad. I'll try to…live up to my new title, whatever it is, and not let you down."

"I know you will son. Now scamper along. You know nobody is allowed in the hall while your peers decide on your new title, least of all you."

And so once again, everyone seemed to ignore the subtle clues of Hiccup's discomfort as he shuffled out of the Hall; after all, subtlety wasn't exactly a trait most Vikings were known to be proficient with.

Luckily, after spending so much time around one of the few Vikings who _was_ proficient with it, Astrid had learned to pick up a few tricks of her own.

"Uh, chief?" she called out and made her way to him before he could close the doors. "May I be excused for a few minutes?"

Stoick looked down at her in askance.

"Now Astrid, you know that once a SQUAT has been called, that the chosen warrior's peers aren't allowed to leave the Great Hall until the new title has been decided. People on the outside might try to influence your decision. So unless it's an emergency-"

"Buttt, uh, it _is_ an emergency! I, uhhh, forgot to feed Stormfly this morning!" She put on what she hoped was an innocent smile.

"That's all?" the chief asked, unimpressed.

"Do you _really_ want a hungry, disgruntled, Nadder with lots of sharp spikes poking around the fishing nets while looking for food?"

Stoick sighed, but relented, "Fine, but be sure to hurry it up! Don't dawdle!" and he gestured for her to go.

"Thanks chief!"

* * *

Astrid walked towards her house, subtly looking for Hiccup out of the corner of her eye. He was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant that he had flown off on Toothless the minute he had left the Great Hall, as she had feared. Thankfully, she was familiar enough with his habits by now that she knew most of the spots he flew off to when he felt like sulking.

Even if he did have the annoying habit of occasionally finding _new _spots.

Making sure that she was out of sight of the chief, or anybody else, she increased her pace and jogged up to Stormfly, who cooed and rubbed against her. She quickly mounted the Nadder's rigging and then checked around once more before taking off to the skies, hoping that she wasn't seen. She'd have to be quick about this.

She _really_ hoped Hiccup didn't choose this particular time to pick out a new sulking spot.

* * *

She found him on the second try, after searching the cove. He was sitting near the edge of a cliff, leaning against Toothless as if the dragon was an overstuffed pillow, while looking out over the water.

She flew in silently behind him. He might not even have noticed her stealthy landing at all, had it not been for Toothless, who raised his head and cooed out in welcome. Still, even then he jumped ever-so-slightly, and Astrid just couldn't help feeling proud of the effect she always managed to have on him.

"Oh, ah, h-hey…hey, Astrid! So, done choosing a title already?"

She could hear the sadness in his voice, and it pained her.

"No, we haven't even started yet."

"But…then…what are you doing here?"

Astrid shrugged her shoulders, "I kinda figured that the person we're granting a title to is a bit more important that the title itself." She sat down next to him. "Hiccup, what's wrong?"

"Wrong? Nothing's wrong. Why would you think anything is wrong, Astrid? Getting an official Viking title is an honor!"

"Yeah, it is. Sooo, why aren't you happy about it?"

Hiccup looked like he wanted to object some more, but realized by the look on Astrid' face that it was useless.

"Did you…ever feel like you were given something you didn't deserve?"

Astrid scoffed, "Don't play that game with me, Hiccup!"

"I'm serious, Astrid!"

"Okay, then." Her attitude suddenly became determined. "You mean like Stormfly giving me her trust and friendship? Or being blessed with the relief that I'll never have to watch my family or my village burn to the ground, thanks to you? Or being given the chance to know a truly amazing person that turned my life upside down, for the better?" She took Hiccup's hand in hers and stroked it gently with her thumb. "Your dad is right, Hiccup. Well, at least this time he is. You _do_ deserve this. Come on Hiccup, no more games; tell me what's _really_ bothering you."

He looked at her sorrowfully, but that just egged her on more.

"_Please_, Hiccup?"

She didn't ever use that word with anybody else, not even her own family, and Hiccup _knew_ it.

He sighed, "I just…why go through all this mysterious cloak-and-dagger stuff when I already _know_ what my new title will be?"

"What do you mean?" She was genuinely confused.

"Oh, come one Astrid! When was the last time a Viking was given an official title that _wasn't_ already his or her nickname? I already know what my new title will be, the exact same as my old one; Hiccup the _Useless_!"

"**WHAT?!**"

"_Ow!_ Astrid, my hand!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. But seriously Hiccup, _why_ would you think that?"

"Like I said, they almost always chose the given nickname as the new title. Snotlout will think it's funny and probably won't want to waste the energy thinking of a different one; the twins won't care at all and will probably just start pounding on each other; and Fishlegs, Odin bless him, will be helpless to stop the whole thing. It'll be a majority vote anyway, even if the two of you voted against it. Besides, you know how we Vikings are about irony and hypocrisy, _especially_ when it comes to names. The rest of the village will probably think that it's "cute" that my title will be the exact opposite of what I am. My dad will probably say that the name will fool Berk's enemies into letting their guard down when I finally become chief…Chief Hiccup the Useless, the best Viking chief in the entire archipelago, HA! I mean, he picked out the title of _Gobber the_ _Belch_ for his best friend, after all!" he laughed sarcastically.

Astrid was silent for a minute, soaking in his words before speaking.

"So that's what you meant…about being given something you didn't feel like you deserved."

Hiccup sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Look, I admit that I'm not much in the way of a "traditional" Viking warrior, and maybe I did made make a few…okay, make that _a lot_ of mistakes, but-"

"That _wasn't_ your fault! We should have tried to _help_ you-"

"Astrid, look, it's okay, really! You're right and I'm getting upset over nothing. In fact, if there's one thing that I should have learned by now, it's that what others think of you and whatever titles or nicknames they give you, it doesn't change who you really are. No matter what my title is, I'm still, well, me."

Astrid felt the urge to hug him, and did so.

She whispered in his ear, "Well, to me, you will always be Hiccup the _Amazing_."

"Thank you," he mummered.

Astrid felt him shake slightly against her and she held him tighter, ignoring the few drops of moisture that seemed to fall onto her shoulder right where he had laid his head. Must have just been mist from the sea crashing up against the cliff.

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Me?" he asked as they broke apart and he rubbed his sleeve against his face before she could get a good look at it. "Of course! Nothing to worry about, right? Like I said, it's not what other people say that matters, it's how I _act_."

"Well, I'm glad that you figured _that_ out!" she smiled.

Acting on impulse again, she leaned over and _kissed_ him on the cheek, leaving him blushing and stuttering.

"A-Astrid!"

"Like you said Hiccup, it's all about _actions_!" she sang out as she mounted Stormfly. "Are you still going to be there when we announce your new title?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. But I think I'll just wait here in the meantime. You know, such a nice day and, uh, somebody has to keep watch for enemy ships and all."

Astrid nodded and shouted out to him as she took off, "Just remember, no matter how lame your title, you'll always be _amazing_ to me!"

He smiled and waved her off, and sat back against Toothless, in a much better mood than he had been just a few minutes before.

As Astrid flew back towards the village, she gave one look back at him and whispered into the wind, "But that still doesn't mean that you don't deserve an equally-amazing title too, and I'm going to make sure you _get_ one!"

* * *

Luckily, her long absence hadn't been noticed by Stoick, and the rest of the village probably just assumed she had been in the Great Hall the entire time. She sneaked in by opening the huge doors just a crack and then closing them behind her, turning around to find the other riders sitting around a table close to the lit central fire-pit, with an abundance of food and drink prepared for their long deliberations.

Only…they didn't seem to be doing much "deliberating".

As Astrid approached, Snotlout was laughing at some stupid antic the twins were using to assault each other, spitting out bits of roasted boar as he did so. Fishlegs sat, looking somewhat nervous, off to the side. He was going through the snacks rapidly, and Astrid knew that meant that he was worried, and that it must've been serious.

"Hey!" Snotlout shouted to her. "About time you joined the party! Where have you been?"

He patted the stool next to him, which she blatantly ignored as she rolled her eyes and sat next to Fishlegs instead. She subtly took the plate of snacks away from him under the pretense of taking a few nibbles herself. It was really her way of assuring him that she was here to help him handle the situation now, so he didn't need to worry so much anymore.

"I had to go feed Stromfly."

Fishlegs looked at her in confusion.

"But Astrid, I saw you feed Stormfly a whole _bucket_ of fish and chicken just this morning?"

"Well, you know how dragons are; sometimes it's like their stomachs are bottom-less pits."

A loud thrashing and gnawing sound caused them to both turn and stare at Snotlout, who was chomping his way through an entire yak-leg, with pieces of meat flying everywhere.

"Yeahhh, I know the feeling," said Fishlegs.

"So how's it coming with Hiccup's new title? Any ideas?"

Snotlout smacked his lips and moved his plate out of the way of the twins as they rolled across the table, slapping and hitting each other.

"Oh that?" he asked, with his mouth full of meat. "We got that covered. Now we're just chowing down and enjoying an entire afternoon free from chores or responsibilities." He waved a half-eaten boar leg in front of her face. "Boar?"

She shoved his hand away.

"You decided on a title _already_?"

"Oh yeah, we got that done in, like, the first minute; nothing to worry about. Now why don't you come sit over here and relax?"

"What did you decide on?" she said sharply, trying to keep them all on-topic.

Ruffnut stopped rolling around just long enough to answer.

"Hiccup the Useless, duh! Omph!" Then she was back to rolling across the table again.

"_**WHAT?!**_" Astrid screamed for the second time that day. "_Why_ would you do that?!"

"What's the big deal?" asked Snotlout. "It's already his unofficial title anyways; he's used to it. Besides, it saves us the trouble of having to come up a new one. If it ain't broke, don't fix it; you know?"

Astrid grinded her teeth and curled her hands into fists. She moved her glare from Snotlout to the twins.

"And you two are okay with this?!"

"Okay with what? OW!" Tuffnut had just enough time to answer before his sister smacked him.

Astrid felt like doing some smacking around of her own. She turned to Fishlegs.

"Sorry Astrid," he whimpered guiltily. "They made me. B-Besides, the rules say that a SQUAT title must be decided by a majority vote, and it's three-against-one…" Astrid's glare hardened. "…err, I mean three-against-_two_. But still, there's nothing we can do."

Astrid could hardly believe it! Hiccup was _exactly_ right about everything! Well, _that_ part she could normally believe, but _this_?

"Yeah babe, so why don't you just relax and enjoy the fact that we get to have the whole day off with all the food we can eat. We ain't leaving until it's all gone!"

"Oh, you can _bet_ we aren't leaving!" growled Astrid.

She pulled out an axe seemingly from nowhere and the twins barely had time to separate before it was imbedded into the table in the exact spot where they had been wrestling a mere second ago. Taking the hint, they both hastily sat down on either side of the table, though they still made faces at each other.

Snotlout was a bit slower on the uptake.

"Whoa! What's with all the hostility? You need to learn to relax, babe! I told you, we got the whole "title" thing totally under contr-EEP!"

Quick as whip, Astrid had jumped up on the table, retrieved the imbedded axe, flipped off the table, and held said axe right against Snotlout's _throat_!

"You were saying?" she asked in a deceptively sweet, but venom-laced, tone.

"Uhhh," he gulped carefully against the sharp metal, not moving his face or even the rack-of-lamb that he held up in front of it. Only his eyes moved, looking over at the very angry Valkyrie off to his side. "I was saying…that, um, of _course_ we should have a spirited and lengthy debate on this obviously very important subject. Hehe?"

Astrid smiled and removed the threatening axe. Snotlout turned to the others.

"And _shame_ on all of you for not giving this matter the due consideration and serious deliberation that it deserves!" he said as a fearful sweat rolled down his face. Nonetheless, he then continued to ravish the rack-of-lamb.

"Sooo," said Ruffnut, "if the title Hiccup the Useless is, uh, useless, then what _is_ his new title?"

"Oh! Oh! I have an idea!" shouted Tuffnut as he waved his hand.

Astrid reached over and _smacked_ his helmet with the butt of her axe.

"I _don't_ want to hear it! We should give Hiccup a title befitting of his character. That means, something the total _opposite _of useless!"

"So, then," said Ruffnut, "should we call him Hiccup the_ Useful_?"

"No!" shouted Astrid. "Well, I mean, he is, but no. We need to be more specific. Something that's synonymous with Hiccup."

"Cynomious-…synca-…wha?" asked Tuffnut.

"Actually," said Fishlegs, "Hiccup _is_ pretty useful."

"I know that! But come on, this is an official Viking title we're talking about! It should be something grand that strikes a note of fear and awe in every other Viking that hears it!"

"Uh, no offense Astrid," said Snotlout, "but Hiccup ain't exactly the "grand" and "fearful" type."

Astrid made to grab her axe again, but Fishlegs held her off.

"Um, he _does_ kind of have a point, you know."

Astrid relented, "Okay, so something that will impress other Vikings then; something unique."

"Oh! Oh! I know! _OW_!" shouted Tuffnut as Astrid hit him again.

"I told you, I _don't_ want to hear it!"

Snotlout, wanting to get the whole ordeal over with, finally ventured his own suggestion.

"How about, Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror?"

"No," warned Fishlegs, "Hiccup doesn't like being called a conqueror. He thinks it makes it sounds like the dragons are slaves instead of partners."

"Fine, they can save that title for _me_ then! Can't believe they choose him first over me anyway," he grumbled.

"How about, Hiccup the Dragon _Trainer_?" asked Astrid.

Snotlout scoffed, "Ha! Anybody can train dragons! It's easy! Even Gustav was able to tame a wild Monstrous Nightmare!"

Astrid bit back a remark about how, if it was easy as he claimed it to be, then why was it that he had so much trouble keeping Hookfang under control when the Monstrous Nightmare seemed to respond so easily to Hiccup, or her, or Fishlegs instead.

"Okay, how about, Hiccup the _First_ Dragon Trainer then? Seeing as how he taught everybody else how "_easy_" it was?"

"Hmm," deliberated Fishlegs, "it's kind of long for a Viking title. Plus, even though he was the first, that doesn't mean the title will garner respect from other Vikings if they don't think that he's the fiercest or the best trainer anymore."

"Oh! Oh! I kno- _OW!_"

This time it was actually Ruffnut who hit her brother, but Astrid was thankful all the same.

"Um, well then, how about, Hiccup the Amazing?" Astrid ventured.

Snotlout just made gagging sounds until an axe whirled by and sliced several inches off of the horns on top of his helmet.

"I don't know Astrid," said Fishlegs, whose criticism was a bit more on the constructive side. "It seems a little vague. And I don't know if it's something that most Vikings would find impressive in the same way that we do."

Astrid nodded. To be honest, she was glad the suggestion was rejected. Though it was an appropriate adjective for him, she really thought of it as more of her own personal nickname that she, and she alone, shared with him. She might even call it her "pet name" for him, if she was more of the sweet "lovey-dovey" type.

Good thing Astrid _wasn't_ the sweet, lovey-dovey type.

"Hiccup the Night Rider?"

"Hiccup the Death Destroyer?"

"High-Flying Hiccup?"

"Hiccup the Kind?"

Suggestion after suggestion was shot down. None of them seemed right. None of them seemed to envelop the _whole_ that was _Hiccup_.

"Hiccup, the lame cousin of Snotlout the Dragon Conqueror?"

That one got _another_ inch of horn sliced off his helmet.

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere!" sighed Astrid. "How can we possibly pick a single, short, title to describe everything that Hiccup is, or everything that he's done for us? Everything that he _means_ _to us_?"

"Oh! Oh! I know!"

Astrid turned towards Tuffnut, looking positively murderous, and ready to _pound_ him into oblivion.

"W-Wait! I know that I'm not supposed to say anything, so…here!"

He held up a piece of parchment. Astrid was surprised; she didn't even know that Tuffnut could write! But what _really_ surprised her was _what_ he had written!

They all gasped, awed and impressed.

"Tuffnut…I can't believe I'm saying this…but that's…that's perfect!"

* * *

"Has the council of the title-seeker's peers reached a decision?" boomed Stoick the Vast over the gathered crowd. The question was really more of a formality, since they would still be locked inside the Great Hall if they hadn't come to a conclusion yet. Plus, Hiccup wasn't really _seeking_ the title to begin with; quite the opposite, in fact. Nevertheless, Astrid nodded yes before handing him the parchment and then sneaking away to the back of the crowd, where she had spotted her boyfriend from the podium easily, seeing as he was standing next to a distinct, black-as-night, form nearly five times his size.

Normally a Viking about to be newly-titled would be standing on top of the podium, next to the chief, but given Hiccup's wariness over his new official moniker, she could understand his reluctance.

"Hey!" she shouted as she jogged up and gave him a quick hug. "You came!"

"Yeah, I heard the ceremonial horn sound. Sooo, I guess this is it, huh?"

Astrid lifted his chin up with her hand, forcing him to look her directly in the eyes.

"Hiccup, there was once a time when you asked me to trust you…okay, so there's actually been _a_ _lot_ times, but that's beside the point…the first time was just before you took me up on my first dragon-ride with Toothless, remember? Now I'm asking you to trust _me_. I promise you that you'll like your new title almost as much as _this_…"

She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, sending him into another fit of beet-red blushing and stuttering that she loved so much.

Hiccup sincerely doubted he could _ever_ like anything as much as he liked _that_!

Stoick's voice boomed over the crowd again.

"I am pleased to announce that the first title of our newest generation of Viking warriors has been selected!"

The crowd cheered as he unfolded the piece of parchment to make sure the writing was legible for the crowd (but really just to make sure it met with his approval first). His face turned into one of surprised shock that even Hiccup himself had hardly ever seen on him before and the entire crowd suddenly went silent. The bulky chief's entire body seemed to shake and tremble for a moment…was it in laughter? Fear? Pride? Sentiment of past memories? Or something else? Hiccup didn't have long to guess, because the look was soon replaced by a beaming smile.

He held up the parchment.

The crowd gasped…

And then _roared_ in approval!

They whistled and cheered and applauded. The other riders, up on the stage, looked on smugly. Tuffnut looked particularly proud.

Astrid was enjoying seeing her shocked boyfriend's mouth gape open as he glubbed around like a fish.

"W-Wha-…that's…how?!"

"Would you believe me if I told you that Tuffnut came up with it?" She hugged him again and whispered in his ear, "I told you that you would like it!"

They were quickly broken apart as a mob of fellow Vikings lifted Hiccup up on their shoulders and chanted his new title as they marched up the podium, where his proud father and his friends stood waiting and applauding, even Snotlout.

Following in their wake, smiling with satisfaction, his girlfriend's voice was drowned out by the crowd as she whispered, "But to me, you'll always be, Hiccup the _Amazing_!"

* * *

So what exactly _was_ Hiccup's new title? Well, ya see, that's just the thing; Hiccup's title was supposed to decided by his peers…and just who are his peers? Why, all of YOU of course!

The other dragon riders notwithstanding, who knows Hiccup better; who has stood by him when nobody else did; cheered him on when nobody else would (even if he didn't know it); who else has cried with him and for him; laughed with him; spent lazy summer days with him in their minds; who has analyzed his every thought and every action nearly to death? His fans, of course!

So who better to decide his new official title than his _real_ peers!

Just as Astrid has her own personal title for him, so every one of you does as well; a unique title you use to call him your own and that describes him best to you.

Maybe it was even a title that the others rejected in the story. Maybe it's a title that can't even be put into words. But it's yours, and that's all that matters!

C'est la vie!

(I hope that this doesn't come across as a cop-out. If so, then I sincerely apologize!)


End file.
